Karadayan Nonbu or Savitri Vratham is a traditional tamilnadu festival of fasting wherein married women will pray for the wellness and long life of their husbands. This nonbu should be done exactly in the time when tamil month 'Masi' ends and the next month 'Panguni' starts. The reason why this fasting is carried out is that "Savithri fought with yema to save her husbands life", the sameway the married women should fast on this auspicious day for long life of their husbands.

Karadayan Nonbu

This year the date for karadayan nonbu is 14th March (Monday) and the time it should be carried out exactly at 10 - 10.30am.

Karadayan Nonbu

The neivehdyam for this fasting is Karadayan Nonbu Adai with butter along with vetrilai, pakku, pazham and cocunut. We should get yellow ropes that has to be tied by all the women in a house. In each of the rope small flower is tied up and one rope should be put in the Kamakshi amman picture and the rest should be tied up by all women in the house.

"Urugadha Vennayam oru adayum vaithu nonbu notren oru nallum en kanavar piriyamal iruka vendum". This should be chanted while tying up the rope in the neck. Even the young girls of more than one year old should tie up these ropes to get the blessings of God.

My thali hole (called as siru thali) is very small which is very difficult to insert the rope inside of thali every year. Can i increase the size of old thali? how to do? how much weight(in gms) of thali i can wear?what procedure i have to do for that?Help me.

Hello Mami,Can you please tell me if we can have lunch (rice which is our usual lunch) after tying the yellow thread for nonbu?? Do we need to stick to nonbu adai as palahaaram for the nyt or any tiffin varieties (without onion) would do?

The only hindu Viratham for which we should not take curd/butter milk is Karadayan Nonbu. Generally in orthodex family, the married women will fast till the viratham time and after tying the holy thread, they will eat nonbu adai and fast the rest of the day and eat milk and any fruit(preferably banana) in the night. But now a days most of us are working women and also elderly women are not able to fast the whole day, so we can have a light tiffen for the dinner.

Normally married women should fast the whole day and should eat only nonbu adai. For others in home, we can cook moorkuzhambu or Sambar with Thakali rasam and avial and one green vegetable for poriyal along with paruppu vadai and thayir pachidi.

Hi, We need to be in fasting till we tie the rope. Meanwhile, we need to prepare the neivedhyam vella and uppu adai and keep it ready. Between 3.30 and 3.40 PM IST, we can perform the neivedhyam and chant the verses which i have mentioned above in my post and tie the holy rope and end the fast by having the vella adai and uppu adai. For the dinner, again we can have these adai along with milk and banana and go for sleep.This is the tradition for the viratham. The verses in tamil to be chanted

This means we are praying God about the wellness of our Husband and he should stay for ever with us.

As per the tradition which was followed in olden days, the rope has to be tied till the next year karadayan nonbu. Till then, during bath, we need to apply turmeric powder to the rope. But now a days, it is not being followed. So you can remove after 2 days and make sure it should not be Tuesday or Friday.

As per the tradition which was followed in olden days, the rope has to be tied till the next year karadayan nonbu. Till then, during bath, we need to apply turmeric powder to the rope. But now a days, it is not being followed. So you can remove after 2 days and make sure it should not be Tuesday or Friday.

This year karadayan nonbu is on 14th march between 3.30 and 3.40 PM IST. But the time varies for each state and country. I am familiar with TamilNadu timings. We need to be in fasting till we tie the rope. Meanwhile, we need to prepare the neivedhyam vella and uppu adai and keep it ready. Between 3.30 and 3.40 PM IST, we can perform the neivedhyam and chant the verses which i have mentioned above in my post and tie the holy rope and end the fast by having the vella adai and uppu adai. For the dinner, again we can have these adai along with milk and banana and go for sleep.This is the tradition for the viratham. The verses in tamil to be chanted

This means we are praying God about the wellness of our Husband and he should stay for ever with us.

As per the tradition which was followed in olden days, the rope has to be tied till the next year karadayan nonbu. Till then, during bath, we need to apply turmeric powder to the rope. But now a days, it is not being followed. So you can remove after 2 days and make sure it should not be Tuesday or Friday.

Thanks Mami. I used to follow ur site for recipes and doubts on the cultural aspect. I have moved to US again. This time I am in a place where I could not get Thengai. I got the rice flour, brown sugar, karamani. Hopefully with your recipe, best wishes and God,s blessings I will be able to perform this Nombu.

As per Vakiya Panjagam/Pambu Panjangam the time given is perfectly correct. If i am not sure, i wont publish the information. The time which you have given is for the Northern side of India. Also i have clearly mentioned that the timings are based on Vakiya Panjangam.

In Chennai, some tiffin houses serve an item called Medhu Ponda (not Mysore Ponda with pepper inside), with sponge like content inside. How to prepare the same? It is available in Sri Venkateswara Poli stall in Arya Gowda street in Mambalam.

I have a doubt regarding Karadayan Nombu. I couldn't perform the nombu on Mar 14th because of date/periods problems. Can I perform the nombu on an auspicious day later on? While my mother says I can do it again on an auspicious date later, my MIL says nombu cannot be done in Panguni maasam. Well, I believe nombu should be done in the transition between maasi and panguni, so panguni maasam is there when we normally perform nombu. Please clarify. Thank you for your reply.

Mami please change the day to Friday. (This year the date for karadayan nonbu is 14th March (Thursday) and the time it should be carried out exactly at 9.56pm. Since it is very late, temples have advised us to carry out our pooja between 9 pm IST and 10 pm IST

Thanks for the detailed information.Your detailed information about the importance of the festival and recipe details motivated me to celebrate inspite of ill health.My mom was suprised when I shared the recipe.Thank you for sharing your exceptional talent and experience of cooking great recipes with us.The rituals involved in celebrating each dish motivates our generation to follow the tradition and continue.Been a fan of your site and your recipes for a long time just today it triggered me to write to you..Thanks again.With your blessings-Jyothi

Im not Indian but I have married one recently from south and i would like to to this for my husband welfare as he means a lot for me. Im pregnant and I would like to know if there is any harm because of fasting, how the fasting works? I personally can fast but with a baby inside i get very hungry all the time. Althought im ready to sacrifice for my husband. One more thing. We live in Germany and I dont have any idea where to get the yellow tread, is there a way to make it ourselfs or something i can do. Im very new at this. Please help me. Nandri :) Karmen

I m in new jersey usa . I am 5 months preg. Now. Somehow I missed to bring nombu charadu from India :-(.. I hv thread which we use to tie flowers. .. can I mix manjal and thread and tie as nombu charadu ??? Please help me by replying.

Mami..This is my first time fasting for nombu.. I am in India.. Should I fast on 14th and break fast on 15morning 4-4:30am or do pooja on 15th and fast till 15th evening.. Sorry if the question is silly.. Please clarify mami.. Thank you in advance

I am so glad I came across your website. You are doing a funtastic job by guiding the aspiring generation in following up our traditions.This is so invaluable. I live in UK and this will be my first nombu after marriage.I am 5.5 hours behind IST. Accordingly I realize I should be tying the charadu aroun10.30pm on 14 Saturday night. But could you please suggest me if I can do the vratham by fasting all through the day and break the fast with nombu naivedyam and adai At 10.3pm? Many thanksShruthi

I am so glad I came across your website. You are doing a funtastic job by guiding the aspiring generation in following up our traditions.This is so invaluable. I live in UK and this will be my first nombu after marriage.I am 5.5 hours behind IST. Accordingly I realize I should be tying the charadu aroun10.30pm on 14 Saturday night. But could you please suggest me if I can do the vratham by fasting all through the day and break the fast with nombu naivedyam and adai At 10.3pm? Many thanksShruthi

mami,iam staying in sharjah .4 to 4.30am ist means 2.30am to 3am here shd i tie that time or can i do it by 4 to 4.30am since its close to half night and early iam confused .also i lost my mil this year so shd i keep only vethalaipakku and tie.thanks in advance

Mami..This is my first time fasting for nombu.. I am in India.. Should I fast on 14th and break fast on 15morning 4-4:30am or do pooja on 15th and fast till 15th evening..Sorry if the question is silly.. Please clarify mami.. Thank you in advance

Nana's karma mami Thank you very much for guiding us with your wonderful instructions in retaining our tradition Since I don't have my mother in law to guide me I feel like a blind person... Half knowledge so confused 😞 your post is a great help thank you

Someone told me that we Shld not perform this vrata if someone has not given you? (Basically it has to be given by mother in law to daughter in law) Can any one do this vrata? What kind of fasting has to be performed ( Nirjala till we tie the thread? Or can eat fruits and roots?? )Please guide

Also due to periods I couldn't do so which is the best day/ date to perform this vrata next? Do we have to follow the same procedure? Please guide Thank you very much

This is not a vrata that has to be a family tradition or to be given by mil or mother. Anyone can perform this vrata to pray for long life of their husband. Also if you are not able to perform due to periods, you can tie the thread on any friday.

1. Could you please let me know if I can do the pooja at 1:00 AM US Time?2. I am staying in a hotel as I am working. I can tie the thread to a small pocket photo of goddess but will have to keep the photo in bag as I can't keep the photo in hotel. In the process the thread will have to be taken out from goddess. I don't know what to do. Please help. 3. I have thread that was tied last year . when I tie the new thread what do I do with the existing thread that is there. Please let me know. At home I have the threads on goddess that was tied last year. what do I do this year since I am staying out of hotel and will go home after two weeks.4. I will fast the whole day. Can I drink juice in between?

Hi, sorry for late response. Nowadays many of us are working and it will be tough to stick on to the perfect fasting time. Its the devotion we show to the tradition that matter a lot than the timings. So wear the thread at your convenience on sunday. You can wear the new thread and remove the old thread. You can very well take fruits or juice in between the fasting as you are working and you need energy to work :-)

Hi Anuradha, yes you can do at 10 pm. Please do not fast when you are carrying. Just take enough adai and fluids to keep you and baby healthy. The fast is for the married women. You can cook any normal meals without onion-garlic.

Thanks a lot for the response. since I am staying in a hotel how do I pray? I have a small photo of goddess with me which I will use for praying and can I tie the thread to goddess after I go home which is after 2 weeks? OR please advice how do I do pooja in a hotel?

Hi.. I am a punjabi married to a tamil brahmin. My mother in law doesn't include me in any auspicious pooja. She tells her both the married girls about pooja. This year on 14th March when I woke up I saw they are doing sone pooja, after some time I saw all of them including my sister in law's daughter wearing nombu. When I asked my mother in law she said I didn't give you nombu as it is your 3rd day of periods.But tell me please can't I wear it in periods. After reading this article I came to know the importance of this nombu. I'm married since November 2013, but last 2 years I was in delhi. But mom in law never told about it.I feel so low.Why tamil people don't live daughter's in law. Only daughter's they love.. Both my sister's in law left their in law's home. They keep interfering here.. I'm so so sad now.. I want this nombu

Sorry to hear. During periods we should not do fasting or do this vrat. Also it has to be done when the tamil month Masi ends and Panguni month begins. Better to do even in Masi month than the Panguni month. So its ok if you miss this year, your intention of doing this nonbu and following tamil tradition itself is great so don't lose hope, try to do this next year.

Mami, namaskaram. On the auspicious day of nombu, somehow or other we forgot the day We were busy. We are seniors. Is it ok we can perform this on some other day or month if so what is the best time and date? We follow your recipes. By God's grace and blessings, we got your site it is is really worth for us to follow tradition even though we are about 3000 miles Is ther